Turkish journalist abducted in Syria

Istanbul, December 19, 2013--A Turkish journalist is the latest
reporter to be abducted in Syria, where approximately 30 journalists are missing,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Bünyamin Aygün, a photojournalist
for the daily Milliyet, was abducted in
November, but the case was not made public before this week.

According to CPJ research, at least 53 journalists have been
abducted during the year, including those who have been released or escaped.

"The shocking truth is this: Every week, a journalist gets
kidnapped in Syria," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Sherif
Mansour. "We call for the immediate release of every journalist held captive in
Syria, regardless of who holds them."

Milliyet
said
Aygün entered Syria on November 26 to report on the conflict. The paper said he
was last heard from on November 27, while he was in the town of Selqin in Idlib
province, but it was unclear whom he had communicated with.

Bülent
Kılıç, a photographer for the Turkey office of Agence France-Presse (AFP) who
is also a friend of Aygün's, told CPJ that he had communicated with the
journalist via WhatsApp, a mobile social networking site, at around 10 p.m. on
November 27.

İlke
Gürsal, Milliyet's news editor, told CPJ that officials from the TurkishForeign Ministry and MIT, the
Turkish national intelligence service, were working to secure Aygün's release.

Aygün
is believed to be held by the same group that is holding El Mundo correspondent
Javier Espinosa and freelance photojournalist Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, Milliyet
reported,
but it did not offer further details. On December 10, the families of the two
Spanish journalists said publicly for the first time that Espinosa and Garcia
Vilanova had been held captive
by the Al-Qaeda affiliate Islamic
State of Iraq and Sham since September 16.

In response to the unprecedented number of journalist abductions,
more than a dozen major international outlets signed a joint
letter last week to major Syrian armed opposition groups calling on them to
"take the steps necessary to bring about their release."